Round robin study on the determination of weld geometry parameters - Part A: analysis of a reference specimen

Abstract The weld toe is known to be a critical point of fatigue failure in many welded constructions. Especially for research purposes but also for improving fatigue life predictions, the weld toes geometry is often described by a set of parameters, including the weld toe radius and the flank angle. There is no universal agreement on the definition of the geometry parameters as well as on measuring routines. To get an overview over used techniques and comparability between research labs, a comprehensive round robin study was conducted over the past years. Two measuring tasks were given to the participants. Part A: A machined specimen with well known geometry inspired by a cruciform joint was analyzed and the results were compared with the actual dimensions of the specimen. Part B: Welded specimens with unknown geometry were measured by the participants and the results were bench-marked against each other. The present study summarizes the findings of Part A. The study gives an overview over used measuring techniques, the influence of measuring equipment and the comparability of the results in the scientific community. Most of the participants achieved good results with their respective measuring methods for radii larger than 1 mm. Smaller radii tend to be overestimated.